Life Out There
by Angelfire24
Summary: The human race has been decimated with the exception of a select few that fell prey to the mercy of Lord Frieza. Now his slaves, they know that he wants to conquer and enslave the entire universe, and they are powerless to stop him. But that doesn't mean that someone won't at least try.
1. Prologue

**Authors Note:**

**Hi guys! So this is my first fanfiction and since I love reading the ones that all of you have written, I thought that I might try my hand at it as well. Now, I know that it begins a bit the same as some others, but I have plans to make it different! I promise. Also, I'm rating this story as "M" because, honestly, it could go anywhere language and otherwise. So... Just a heads up.**

**By the way, I do not own Dragonball Z or any of it's characters or counterparts. If I did, this wouldn't be a _fan_fiction, would it? (I'd be pulling in the big bucks :D)**

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***Prologue***

Dust billowed down from the ceiling, invisible yet palpable as we breathed it in, huddling there together as it coated our clothes, skin and hair in that small, dark room, small chips of cement raining down on our heads as the world shook once again. It had been doing so for hours now and the dark quiet only seemed to amplify the cacophony from above as arms tightened around me, just as I too clung tighter to my family. Burying my head even deeper into my father's chest, I took what little comfort I could hiding beneath his lab coat, muffling my frightened whimpers into his sturdy abdomen just as I heard Chi-chi do the same. Being close together helped drown out the hellish havoc above us, our rapid heartbeats and breathing vaguely muting the booms and screams that echoed down from the surface.

Everybody's heart seemed to accelerate even more so after everything turned quiet. Even Mom in all of her usual ditzy optimism was unusually somber as she clung onto the three of us tighter, the way Dad was trying to rub her shoulder soothingly not seeming to help.

We knew that there were only so many reasons as to why it was suddenly silent. It could mean that everyone was already dead, or it could mean that _he _had changed his mind and was just going to destroy the planet. Either way... This was it. He had said that he was going to eradicate every single human from the earth. And those strange spectacles that his men all wore somehow allowed them to find living beings. The four of us clung even closer to each other—if that was even possible—all silently praying that it would be fast and without pain. There was no escape from _them._

All breathing ceased and everyone flinched as the door to the underground bunker was ripped open violently, illuminating the room with the now blinding sunlight—meaning that there was nothing left of our home or the facility that had been above us. The air tasted sour with smoke as we blinked back tears, unsuccessfully trying not to hyperventilate now that our ability to breathe had returned. The only thing that I could see other than the bright light was a tall, dark silhouette as it slowly descended the stairs, two dots gleaming from the shadows of his face like golden stars. There were more shadows behind him, blocking out some of the brilliance with their bodies, but only the one entered the room. We all flattened ourselves against the wall, as if we thought we could merge into the corner or turn invisible. We were in no way a threat to him—we were only weak humans after all. But he most certainly was a threat to us.

Chills ran along my spine as the hairs on the back of my neck raised, the four of us simultaneously tensing as his smooth voice slithered across the distance between us. "Congratulations, Doctor. Lord Frieza, being the merciful ruler that he is, is allowing you to survive this day."


	2. Slaves

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, I know that this chapter doesn't really have any action or anything in it, but I felt the need to show you a little bit of how life is for the humans on Frieza's ship, as well as introduce familiar characters, etc. I think that this sets up what's going to happen next fairly well.**

**So thanks for reading, I hope you like it!**

**P.S.**

**I do not own Dragonball Z or it's counterparts. Unfortunately.**

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***Chapter One***

_Nine years later..._

"Come, human. Lord Frieza demands an audience with you at once!" Glancing up from the delicate circuitry that Dad, Chi-chi and I had been working on all morning, I glared at the dog-like alien in that customary spandex that had so rudely barked at my dad. We had been working for Frieza for nearly a decade and those ugly twits still had the nerve to look down (or up in this guy's case) their noses at us. Thanks to our genius, those jerks had better armor, ships, scouters, you name it. Even their food was a thousand times better thanks to Mom and her excellent culinary skills!

Catching sight of Chi-chi's dark eyes across the table, I could see that she was just as irritated as I was. But where Chi and I were wrestling with our tempers and the need to hit that dog upside his head with something hard and heavy, Dad just glanced up from what he was doing and answered in his usual laid back voice, "Yes, of course. Bulma, Chi-chi, I have to go see Lord Frieza now, so finish what you're doing and then why don't you take a nice break? Take a walk. Get some coffee. You kids deserve it."

I had a bad feeling as I watched him trudge along after that soldier. Well, I always did when it had anything to do with Frieza... but this time it was different. There wasn't anything I could about it though, so I just shook it off and went back to sautering. Five more minutes and we had done all we could do by ourselves, but I couldn't stand just leaving the project right then and there when it was so close to being completed. "It's too heavy for us to turn over, Bulma. We're going to have to wait until Dad comes back."

Planting my hands on my hips, I could tell by the look on her face that she knew what was coming as I glared at her. But before I could even form the argument in my mind, the solution—or should I say, _solutions—_walked right through the door. The twins were almost as smart as Dad and I were, and seemed to have super-human strength as well, so they were perfect for the job. Turning a smirk on Chi-chi, I watched as she caught onto what I was thinking, her lips forming a devious smile that mirrored my own as we watched the anti-social duo approach. When they were just a few yards away and almost at their own station, I called out to them. "Hey! Seventeen, Eighteen, come here for a minute, would you?"

It was a question, but by no means was it a request. They pivoted with an annoyed glare duplicated in each of their icy blue eyes, and I flashed a Seventeen a flirty smile and wink as they approached. He just stared at me with those cold eyes, almost as if he were looking right through me as they stopped by our table. Chi-chi was clearing away whatever tools that would get in our way as I fought letting my face fall. I had been trying since we were kids to get a reaction other than annoyance from either one of the twins, hoping to see a different expression besides the blank one that they always wore. Unfortunately, in all of my genius, I had yet to figure out how to do so.

"What do you want?" Even her voice was fairly emotionless as Eighteen questioned us. Something about it all was just creepy, but perhaps it was just their way of dealing with being Frieza's slave. I knew for a fact that both Chi-chi and I had changed from who we had been when we had been captured so long ago. We were a lot stronger now. We had to be.

Pasting another smile on my face, I gestured toward the mess of machine on the worktable in front of us. "We need your help to turn this baby over." They simply nodded before going to opposite sides of the circuit board and flipping it over by themselves with ease. Stuff like that used to amaze me to the point of it being jaw-dropping, but now... Well, after living with Frieza, Zarbon and the rest of the minions of Hell for half of my life, it just wasn't that special anymore. But it was still a point of pride to have the fact that _I _couldn't do it rubbed in my face. And by fellow humans! Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms over my chest as I glared at them. "We were going to help, you know."

They had already started walking away and didn't even turn back to look at me as Seventeen called over his shoulder, "We didn't need it."

I was about to give him a piece of my mind when something heavy was suddenly draped across the back of my shoulders. Starting a little in surprise, I looked up to see the sparkling smile of the always dashing Yamcha. "Don't worry about them, babe. They were always a little weird." I take that back. He was dashing up until the point when he opened his mouth. Shrugging off his heavily muscled arm, I stomped over to Chi-chi and grabbed her arm before dragging her out of the lab. Yamcha followed us of course, his longer legs matching our speedy strides with ease all the while asking, "Babe, are you made at me? Come on, Bulma babe, talk to me!"

Rolling my eyes, I swallowed a scream of frustration as I caught sight of Chi's laughing eyes. Stopping abruptly, Chi's momentum dragged me forward a couple of steps as Yamcha ambled back to stand in front of me. I was sure that my face was red with rage and if I had been one of those cartoons that I had watched as a child, steam would have been coming out of my ears. I had only had this same conversation a millions times before over the years! And damn my teenage hormones back then! Yeah, Yamcha was cute and with those scars of his, he now had this kind of aura of danger around him. But... "I've told you a million times not to call me 'babe!' When are you going to get it through that thick skull of yours?" Several soldiers turned to looked at us as I blew up in my "boyfriend's" face, most of them snickering as the rest just continued on their way. This wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. Particularly between the two of us.

But before he could say anything (which is probably a good thing because more than likely he would have called me 'babe' again), another voice slithered into our conversation. "Bulma pet, I thought I heard your voice. Screeching like that is unattractive, you know. You can have all the looks in the universe, but that racket you were just making would more than likely get you killed." We turned to see the green beauty that was Zarbon saunter up to us, Yamcha falling back a bit as the green-haired alien stopped in front of me. Frowning up into his golden eyes, I batted away his hand as he stroked my cheek with that cold, pale blue-green finger of his. I saw something flare in those golden eyes of his for a moment before a malicious smirk once again graced his face. "We wouldn't want that now, would we?" He just stared at me again for a minute before chuckling and pushing past us. I held back a sigh of relief as I was released from his stare and the cold, alien aura about him. His velvety voice brought my attention back to him as he called over his shoulder with a wink. "And try to smile more, love. It makes you look prettier."

If I could have growled, I would have. But unfortunately, I wasn't some wild animal that could go around tearing people's heads off. So instead, I just struck up idle conversation with Yamcha and Chi-chi as we made our way to the cafeteria. Suddenly being called 'babe' didn't seem so bad. But Zarbon had a way of doing that to you. Good-looking or not, he was a slimy little weasel. He had always liked my hair, wondering how it was naturally blue when other humans weren't born that way. We had thought that he had been disappointed to find out that it was because of an experiment gone wrong that Dad and I had such strange coloring, but as soon as I had outgrown that awkward stage at about twelve and thirteen, he was always there once again. It was disgusting! But one of these days that toad was going to get what was coming to him—and I hoped that I was around to see it.

Walking into the mess hall, we were greeted by the usual wolf-whistles, catcalls, and some vulgar mentionings that aren't worth repeating as Yamcha puffed out his chest and tried to look intimidating. Tried, being the key word there. Yes, he was big and strong, very muscular—but look at Frieza. He was my size and pink! I mean, Chi-chi could probably even take Yamcha. Not that I don't love the guy, but sometimes it seemed to me that the muscles were all there for show, not action.

Standing in line as I tried to ignore Chi's nagging at Yamcha to stop slouching and stand up straight, blah blah blah. Though it was true, he did slouch a bit. Bending over, I scooped all of my shoulder-length blue hair back into a ponytail before standing back up, successfully avoiding those unattractive clumps that just dragging my hair back made as I tied the tresses up with the scrunchie on my wrist. It was something I did at pretty much every meal, unless my hair was already up, because I hated when you're just minding your own business and chowing down when suddenly there's hair wrapped around your tongue or something. Don't get me wrong, I loved my hair and being a girl, but sometimes long hair can really be a nuisance.

I was broken out of my reveries by yet another not so rare occurrence. Sensing Chi-chi tense beside me, it appeared that the old man was getting double the action today. Whirling around faster than the old martial arts master could dodge, Chi and I both whacked him upside the head, yelling, "Keep your hands to yourself, you old pervert!" Seeing Krillin snickering from behind Roshi's bald head, he shut up pretty quickly once he caught sight of the glares being sent his way. Unfortunately, those two were some of our best friends (okay, some of the only friends that we could have a real friendship with on Frieza's ship), and though we were grateful to the old man for teaching us what he knew so we could kinda defend ourselves—or at least put up a fight if the time ever arose—sometimes we just wanted to kill the old fool. And speaking of fools, there was Frieza's not too far behind us. Now that really was a fool that I wanted to kill if only to never hear that irritating laugh of his again. It was a wonder why it was that Frieza hadn't just killed Hercule yet. The explanation we could come up with is that Frieza somehow amazingly liked the oaf. But we already knew that the evil overlord had eccentric tastes—we were all proof of that in some way.

"Bulma and Chi-chi, my dears! How have you been? And where's your father? I made him his favorite dessert!" That was my Mom, the seemingly eternal ray of sunshine. We hadn't even been on Frieza's ship for two days before she found her way down to the kitchens and started cooking like she used to on Earth. She was made head chef right then and there that day, and other than Frieza and some of the higher-up goons, I think that she was the only person on this ship that actually liked being there. Though she did say that she missed her garden. Smiling, I was about to answer her questions, but then she caught sight of Yamcha. You would think that we haven't seen each other in years. "Oh, Yamcha! I almost didn't see you there, sweetie. Come here, take some more vegetables. A growing boy like you needs vegetables to get big and strong! And here, have some cookies too!"

Snickering at Yamcha's blush, Krillin, Chi-chi, and I were finally on the same page humour-wise. But someone was missing from the laughter, and looking around, I found him ogling a pair of spandexed legs that belonged to what I thought was one of the few girls on the ship. Though it could have been a guy for all I knew. It was kind of hard to tell sometimes. It actually reminded me of a time shortly after we had first arrived and Roshi had thought that Zarbon was a girl! I was about to smack him upside the head again for being so crass when my mother's chirpy voice stopped me. "Bulma dear, do you want some cookies? Oh, and here's a gida **(A/N: like an apple)**! And here, I forgot to give Chi-chi hers! I'll see you later, dear!" Smiling and shaking my head as I tried to balance my artfully overfull tray, I followed Krillin, Yamcha and Chi-chi to where Launch, Tien and Chiaotzu sat at our usual table. I could hear Mom exclaiming over Hercule as I sat down in front of the presently blonde Launch (had best tread carefully at the moment). I didn't see how my Mom could do it! I mean, she even called Frieza, Zarbon, Dodoria and the Ginyu Force "dear!"

We had only been sitting there, eating and joking about whatever we could when my Dad walked up to us, a strained expression on his usually smooth face. I tensed, waiting for bad news as he just stood there and patiently awaited everyone's undivided attention. It didn't take long seeing as Chi-chi and I kept elbowing people in the ribs, hushing them and nodding towards Dad when they turned to yell at us. Once he saw that everyone was at attention, he sucked in a deep, ragged breath that told me that he was once again craving the cigarettes that were destroyed along with Earth. "I need everybody to come to my quarters at 11:30 tonight." With that said, he began to walk away only to pause and look at me over his hunched shoulder. "And Bulma, bring the EPC."

Everyone turned to look at me in confusion. Everyone except Chi-chi, that is. We stared at each other in horror at the thought of what my Dad had just said. We had been waiting for this day to come, but now that it had, I was filled with this deep sense of fear. What was so bad that it could have convinced Dad to finally decide that it was time to use the escape pod?


	3. Escape Plan

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, I'm feeling like a failure at the moment. I mean, you write and write page upon page on Document, and then when you upload it, it looks tiny! Kudos for those who have enough story for a long scroll bar! I wish I had your imagination. But here's to improving (notice the imaginary champagne glass that I am imagining toasting with)! Cheers!**

**P.S.**

**If you guys haven't figured it out, or have, I'm just going to say it anyway. This is an Alternate Universe fanfiction, but I will try my best to stick to the characters' original personalities, etc. They're the reason I fell in love with the Dragonball franchise to begin with. But don't think that somethings won't be different! Not everything is exactly the same because they have all lived different lives. Just a heads up!**

**P.S.S.**

**We are in negotiations, but he's a tough old coot. So, I do not own Dragonball Z or any of it's counterparts. Yet.**

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***Chapter Two***

Looking down at the watch on my wrist, I saw that it was 11:22 pm and that I only had a few more minutes until I was supposed to meet up with everybody in my Mom and Dad's room. Chi-chi wasn't present at the moment because she was helping Mom clean up the kitchen after dinner, and the only reason that I wasn't was because I had to come find the escape pod capsule that I had hid so long ago. Just the thought of having to use it after having it at the ready all this time was enough to make my heart accelerate. I instinctively knew that whatever was going to happen, there was no going back after we opened the capsule. Geniuses or not, and eccentric or not, Frieza wasn't very fond of deserters (or anybody for that matter).

Crawling under my bed, I started clawing at the stitches that Chi-chi had made in the underside of the mattress a few years ago after I had cut it open and hid the secret capsule inside. Digging around in the fabric, I pulled out the little vile-shaped container and scooted back out from under the bed. Standing up, I nearly had a heart-attack as the capsule slipped from my sweaty hands and fell to the floor. That wouldn't have been pretty had it landed on the trigger and then boom with a puff of smoke, there's a spaceship in my room! Not only was there a chance that I could have died by being smooshed into or propelled through one of the walls, but Frieza and his men would have certainly have noticed the ship that was not supposed to be there. All of our hard work and secrecy would have been for nothing just because I was nervous and had sweaty hands! Fortunately, that didn't happen though, so drying my hands on the small white lab dress that I was assigned to wear, I bent and picked up our only hope for escaping slavery.

Glancing at my watch once again, I noticed that I only had two minutes left before I was supposed to be in Dad's room. Figuring that it was close enough, I made sure everything looked orderly before leaving the room and heading for the room a few doors down. I only had time to knock once before the door slid open to reveal my father and everyone else in the background. Even Seventeen and Eighteen were present. The air seemed to thicken even more with tension as I stepped into the room and Dad shut and locked the door behind me. Going over to sit on the bed beside Mom and Chi-chi, we all looked to my Dad expectantly.

Taking off his glasses, he cleaned the lenses with the corner of his ever-present lab coat in a way that I knew was stalling. It only made the frightened anticipation worse knowing that he didn't know how to tell us what he was going to. My Dad always knew what to say. Always. But seemingly not this time because even after he had returned his glasses to rest on his nose, he still didn't say anything. "Dad, what is it?"

"Yes Trunks, what is it, dear?" I was shocked, as I'm sure everyone else was, to hear the seriousness in my Mom's voice. I had only heard her sound like that once before and it was when Frieza was attacking the earth. Most people wouldn't guess that Bunny Briefs had a serious bone in her body, but she was always dependable, no matter what. Just like Dad.

Sighing heavily, he looked into my Mom's eyes and just stared, seemingly frightened and trying to tell her something with his eyes at the same time. I felt her tense beside me, a small gasp escaping her lips as if she understood whatever it was that he was trying to tell her while the rest of us remained absolutely clueless as to what was going on. Finally, he turned his attention to the rest of the room. "There have been rumours circulating about magical instruments that can grant any wish. Frieza has learned of these rumours and he intends to go after these supposed magical 'dragonballs.'" Chi-chi and Roshi gasped as he said that, though I didn't have a clue as to why as my Dad continued, "Frieza called me in to discuss the possibility of such things actually existing this afternoon. Against my judgment he is going after these dragonballs on the planet Namek. He intends to wish for immortality."

We all just stared at him for a minute or five as we tried to wrap our minds around what he was saying. In my opinion, it all sounded absolutely ludicrous! Magical objects granting wishes? Immortality? It all sounded more like a fairytale to me. I didn't see why my Dad was so worried, unless of course he was concerned about the welfare of the Namekians. But there wasn't anything we could do about it. In all our time with Frieza, he had had more than more planet purged—not to mention our own. "Dad, it's just a fairytale. There's nothing to worry about. Dragonballs aren't real, and even if they are, I seriously doubt that they can grant any wish."

Surprisingly, it wasn't my Dad who answered me. Instead, instead an uncharacteristcally somber Roshi interrupted with his croaky voice sounding even hoarser than usual. "Actually, dragonballs are indeed real, Bulma. I once possessed one before the Earth was destroyed. Just before I was taken by Dodoria, mine turned to stone. And I had heard the legends about them: gather all seven, summon the great dragon, and he will grant any wish." Chi-chi nodded enthusiastically, adding in a frightened voice, "Yes, my Dad possessed one before he died as well. He used to tell me the legend when I was a little girl. But I had no idea that there were others besides the ones on Earth!"

Looking around the room, I saw that every face held a mixture of shock and disbelief, though Seventeen and Eighteen's expressions were harder to decipher. The only give away was the tightening of their mouths and the way their eyes had narrowed as they glared off into space. Looking back to my Dad, his expression was one of determination—something I didn't quite understand until he spoke. "Exactly. I had heard the stories as well and given the possibility of this rumour being true... We can't let Frieza achieve immortality! He would be invincible then, and even the Saiyins wouldn't be able to stop him!"

"You mean if he doesn't destroy them first." I was surprised when Yamcha's voice sounded from the corner of the room. He looked serious, which was unusual outside of fighting. And somehow, between his, Roshi's and Mom's uncharacteristic solemnity, it made it all the more frightening. Also, Yamcha was right. We all knew that the only people that would be able to take Frieza down were those warrior aliens with the monkey tails called Saiyins. But they hadn't really done anything against the Cold Empire. If anything, they were allies, sometimes even purging planets for or trading with Frieza. But we all knew that Frieza feared them, or more specifically, their potential. We had had to cover for the Saiyins on more than one occasion, fearing that Frieza would finally snap and destroy them all. I thought that the Saiyins were too brazen and arrogant for their own good—a sentiment shared by the others.

But the real question was, how were we supposed to stop Frieza from achieving his goal? What Frieza wants, Frieza gets and we were far to powerless to go up against him. Surely Dad didn't expect us to go on some kind of suicide revolutionary mission or something! Though, perhaps dying would be better than living the rest of our lives in fear beneath the grinding toes of a psychotic tyrant.

"How do you intend we stop him, Doctor?" I was surprised when it was Seventeen that asked the question that was on everyone's minds. My Dad looked around the room grimly, taking us all in and letting us all see that what he was about to say was not a jest. "My plan is quite simple really. Bunny, Bulma, Chi-chi and whomever wants to accompany them will take the escape pod and beat Frieza to Namek. Once there, you will make sure that the dragonballs are never found before escaping for good." He looked back and forth between the three of us, a great sadness in his eyes as he continued, "This is not the life that I want for you, for any of you. And I don't want you to have to endure it any longer."

"Dad, no!" Chi-chi and I exclaimed as Mom demanded in the scariest voice that I had ever heard her use, "I am not leaving you, Trunks Briefs! I'm staying." He shook his head, getting ready to argue with her only to be interrupted by me. "Why can't we all escape, Dad? That way nobody's left behind!"

"There's not enough room in the ship, Bulma. Even now, it will be a tight squeeze with all of you going. And somebody needs to cover for you for at least a little while." Blinking back tears, I ran over and hugged him. "Daddy, I'm not leaving you here to die!" Pulling away from me, he cupped my face between his two calloused hands like he used to when I was a little girl. I had never seen that look in his eyes before, and now I knew where I had gotten my stubbornness from. Apparently neither one of my parents were strangers to it. "You are going to go, Bulma Ann! You are going to save the universe, do you understand me? Nobody deserves to be a slave, or under the rule of a tyrant like Frieza. I want all of this—all that we've been through to mean something! So please, do this for me?"

Swallowing a sob, I couldn't say no to my Dad. Not with the way he was looking at me. And he was right. Everything that he had said was true... But that didn't mean that I didn't have conditions myself. "Okay, we'll go. But we're coming back for you, understand? I am not leaving you here for the rest of your life. I'm coming back!" He shook his head no but before he could say anything, the previously silent Eighteen's voice echoed around the room. "Don't worry about your father. We will stay and help him." Seventeen smirked and Eighteen returned it as he turned to face me. "Yes, we can always escape another time. When you come back for instance."

Everyone was silent for a moment as we all grasped at the unprecedented sacrifice that the twins were making. We all knew that more than likely Frieza would kill my father after he found out that the others and I were gone, because of course my Dad would have known about the escape. Yes, we could hope that Dad have become too important to kill... But Frieza wasn't known for being reasonable, but for his temper. So you can imagine how we were even more surprised when after staring at Eighteen for a few moments, Krillin said, "I'm staying too. Dr. Briefs needs all of the allies he can get." Chiaotzu then Tien also agreed, "It's better to die taking a stand than as a coward!" And wherever Tien went, so did Launch as she said, "Yeah! But we're going to try our damnedest to survive, so you come back, you hear me? And bring an army while you're at it!" We all knew that she was joking, but it was a comfort anyway. Somehow, no matter which personality was in control at the moment, Launch had a way of knowing exactly what to say.

"We need to leave for the docking bay right now. It's almost time for the shift change." We were pulled out of our shock by my Dad's voice as he looked down at the watch on his wrist. It was the Mickey Mouse one that I had given him for his birthday when I was six. I felt a lump in my throat at the thought as I looked down at my own to hide the tears that had reformed in my eyes. He was right, it was already 11:49 pm. It would take us a few minutes to get there and then to take off. I really did wish that everyone was coming, though logically and theoretically I understood all of their reasons for staying (except maybe the twins).

So after my Mom hugging Chi-chi and I goodbye, as well as everyone else (I even hugged Seventeen and Eighteen, thanking them and promising to come back as I whispered in their ears), Dad, Roshi, Yamcha, Chi-chi and I left the room as everyone else went their separate ways. Food and clothes had already been packed into the ship in the capsule, so there wasn't any reason for us to go back to our room or anywhere else but the docking bay. Everything was dead quiet as we made our way toward the docking bay, which made the cold, sterile, metallic environment even creepier than usual. But we made it there without coming across anybody, including the guards that were supposed to have been there. You couldn't really blame them though. Who would dare attack Frieza? It was okay to leave before their replacements arrived just so long as they weren't caught. Unfortunately for them, those guards would probably be dead tomorrow.

Once we were where we were supposed to be, Dad gestured for me to take out the ship. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the capsule and pressed the button on the top before tossing it away from me. Then, with a frighteningly loud pop and a puff of smoke, there stood the most magnificent ship in the hangar. It was large and white, modeled after the ones in the hangar around us but infinitely more better—particularly with the Capsule Corp. logo painted onto the side of the ship. Before I could walk up the ramp to initiate launch, Dad handed me a piece of paper and I was immediately glad that he was such a genius, because even I hadn't thought about where Namek actually was in all of the excitement. I could see it now—just taking off in the ship and then having no idea where to go! So nodding in thanks and telling him how grateful I was with my eyes, I jogged up the ramp and into the ship, switching on the controls before typing in the coordinates to Namek.

With that done, I was shocked when I turned around and nobody was there. I was alone on the ship. Panicked, I sprinted back out of the ship and down the ramp before somebody got it in their minds for me to go alone. I came upon a scene with Chi hugging Dad while Yamcha and Roshi just stood their looking serious. Seeing me, Yamcha stepped forward, a determined yet at the same time, nervous expression on his face as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Listen Bulma, uh, Master Roshi and I have decided to stay with your dad and everyone else. We'll need to train some more to protect them and to fight against Frieza when the time comes. And Krillin, Tien and Chiaotzu will probably need some more training too... So, yeah."

I wanted to smack him, to scream at him that _we_ needed protection too! How was it okay to send two human women out into the depths of space to face god-knows-what all by themselves? Men could be such idiots sometimes and it was because of that that I didn't say anything. We didn't need an idiot and a perverted old man guarding us. We could talk our way through things, use our feminine wiles and if it came down to it, Roshi had trained us in martial arts too. Sure we weren't as strong as the guys, but Chi-chi and I could handle it. With that thought, I turned a glare on Chi-chi, daring her to leave me all alone like everyone else had. She looked confused for a minuted before she smirked, kissing Dad on the cheek before walking up the ramp of the ship, calling over her shoulder in a confident voice, "Don't worry, Bulma, you're not going anywhere without me! Afterall, who is going to kill all of those big, bad bugs you come across in space?"


	4. Pit Stop

**Author's Note:**

**Wow guys! I was going to wait a few days before posting the next chapter since I already gave you two chapters and a prologue—you know, sticking to the weekly updates. But I think you guys have earned the next installment a little early for giving this story 95 reads in only two days! Thank you!**

**And as you know, I did not invent nor do I own Dragonball Z or any of it's counterparts.**

* * *

***Chapter Three***

"Okay, so I've checked everything and the fuel is fine, and we have plenty of food and clothes, too. Unfortunately though, it's all spandex—but we're used to that by now. Mom really thought of everything except for perhaps weapons. I haven't found a single one on this ship." Chi-chi threw herself down onto the copilot seat beside me with a tired huff. Glancing over at her from where I had been staring out the windshield at the stars and planets zooming by us, I noticed the light purple circles that had formed under her usually wide eyes. It had been seven hours and thirteen minutes since we had escaped Frieza's ship, and though we had both been up since six the morning before, neither one of us could fall asleep even if we wanted to. People should be noticing that we were missing right about now and seven hours wasn't a very comforting distance between us and Frieza. Not that I didn't trust my Dad's and my genius or the speed of the ship—it was just better to be safe than sorry.

Frowning at the information that I had just received, I turned my attention back to the window, the screen turning into that of a computer as I searched the space between us and Namek. At the rate we were traveling, it would take us about two weeks to reach the planet and there were bound to merchant planets along the way. And as luck would have it, there was one near the half-way point—Planet Xylen. Pointing out the image of the orange planet to Chi-chi, I said, "We'll stop here to pick up weapons and whatever else we need. It'll take us about a week to get there though." Raising her eyebrows, Chi turned back to face me, her arms crossed over her chest as she sunk further down into her chair. "And just how do you expect us to get anything, Bulma? We have no money and it's not like anyone is just going to give it to us for free."

Letting out a frustrated growl, I turned a glare on the girl who was more my sister than my best friend. "Well, they should! I mean, we're doing this to save the universe—which includes them! A little gratitude should be in order!" I felt my cheeks turn pink at the sight of her pointed look and I realized how grateful I was that it was just her and I on this trip, instead of facing ten times the humiliation that I would have faced after that tantrum otherwise. And there was no look of pity from her either—something else I was extremely grateful for, because we both knew that I wasn't really all that made at the universe. At least not at the moment. "We'll just have to steal what we need, Chi. We can hide them in the capsules and nobody will be able to see them."

She didn't exactly look happy about having to steal, but she merely nodded before slowly rising from her chair and stretching like a cat. "Okay then. We go to Xylen and then Namek." She yawned, the act being contagious as I yawned immediately after as she said, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm completely exhausted. I'll see you in the morning, Bulma." I gave her a tired smile before turning back toward the computer, calling out a good night as I inserted a detour course for Planet Xylen. It only took a minute to do and then I was off to bed myself, too exhausted for even my fear of Frieza to bother me anymore as I stumbled down the short hallway to my room. Not even bothering with the lights as I shut the door and threw myself down on the bed. My last thoughts before I drifted off to oblivion were, _Please be okay, Dad, Mom, everyone. We're coming back for you as soon as we can._

* * *

_I found myself in a garden like the ones that I remembered from Earth, but far more beautiful than those that I did recall. The air was decorated with what seemed to be a golden mist, the trees crowned with a myriad of different colors—pink flowers here, white snowballs there, and one even seemed to glow with a thousand lights within it's thick, green leaves. Ivy vines and morning glories garbed some of the trunks in artful swirls, the dew on their leaves and petals creating tiny rainbows as the sun from afar shone on them. Birds were calling out a morning song that I hadn't heard in years, and then a splash caught my attention. Whirling around, I found that I was standing only a few yards away from a pond, beautiful white swans diving from between the cattails and waterlilies into the water. _

_ "It's beautiful, isn't it?" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of a feminine voice from beside me. Turning, I met the profile of a woman with long pink hair, big blue eyes and the smoothest complexion that I had ever seen. She was also the prettiest person that I had ever seen. Looking around again, and then at her in her long, flowing white dress and the white lily flower tucked into her hair behind her ear, I couldn't help but notice that she seemed to belong here in this paradise. "Yes, this is where I belonged, but my time in this life is over, Bulma. I just wanted to meet you at least once before I went."_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ She turned to look at me with eyes that didn't seem to match her youthful appearance. She said nothing for a moment as she just stared at me, seemingly searching for something or trying to memorize my face. "I see that you got your looks from your father... But that isn't why I am here. I __wanted to show you something that I dreamt the other night. I just knew that it was you." Her voice faded, as did everything else in the garden before I could frame a question as to what she was even talking about._

_Hearing someone scream, I instinctively turned toward it only to be blinded by a bright golden light as I was knocked off my feet by some invisible force. Once the spots from my vision had cleared, I looked up again to see a man with spiked blond hair standing with his back to me facing a white and purple figure in the distance. I would have thought that the lightning sparking down from the darkened sky and the way the mysterious, seriously buff guy glowed would have frightened me—but it didn't. I felt completely safe._

_ The dream faded out just as suddenly as it had appeared and I was now once again standing in the grove. Hearing a splashing sound, I turned around to find the woman with pink hair bending over the pond. Turning back to me, her blue eyes were somewhat sad as she said, "You're destiny will not be an easy feat, young one. And I am sorry that I will not be there to guide you." An inexplicable sense of panic bloomed in my chest at those words. I didn't know why, but I felt a connection to this woman and to hear her say that she wouldn't be there for me was almost like hearing my Mom or Dad say that to me. I needed her for some reason and I didn't want her to go. The garden and she were fading, and I could feel myself waking up as I cried out to her, "Wait! Please don't go! Don't leave me!"_

_ She smiled a sad smile, reaching out to cup my cheek with tears in her eyes as she said, "Oh, how I wish that I could have been there for you, Bulma. That I had been more accepting... had protected you. But everything happens for a reason, my love, and you will not need me. You have others to help you on your quest—like your dark-haired friend, the guardian." I couldn't feel the heat of her hand any longer, nor could I feel it's presence at all as I reached out to grab hold of her. "But I don't even know your name!"_

_ She sent me a familiar looking smirk before completely disappearing, a whisper surrounding __me as the garden faded and I was surrounded by a rumbling darkness. "It's Bella."_

"Ow!" I didn't have much time to wallow in the pain that I felt from landing on my face before I was tossed like a rag-doll again, this time slamming into one of the walls of my room. There were more slight rumbles and tremors but at least I wasn't thrown again as I held onto my aching nose. And that's when I heard the automated voice speaking from the intercoms overhead, as well as Chi-chi's screaming for me to get up, "Bulma!" "Approaching Planet Xylen. Please take your seats and fasten your safety belts during the landing sequence. Approaching Planet Xylen..."

Groaning, I pushed myself up onto my feet, staggering across the small room, out the door and down the hall toward the control room as the planet's gravity continued to do it's wonders to the ship. Chi-chi was already strapped in and clinging to the arm rests so hard that her knuckles had turned white and there were actually indents where her fingers were clawing into the upholstery. Catching sight of me, I think that she could have been, she would have either started beating me upside the head or clawing at my face (or both) had she not been so afraid. Swallowing the lump that rose uncomfortably in my throat at the sight of Chi-chi's death glare, I stumbled the rest of the way over to the pilot's seat, all the while she was screaming at me, "Well, don't just stand there! Do something! I don't know how to land this thing! Please, don't let us crash! I'm too young to die!"

Rolling my eyes at her theatrics, I sat down in my chair and buckled in before switching the autopilot off. We had already entered the yellowish atmosphere by the time I took control and it was all I could do not to crash into either the desert of the city that I could see in the distance (it's not like I had much experience piloting a spaceship either—I had spent most of my life in the lab _building_ ships, not flying them).

Luckily, we survived the landing, the only thing blowing up being the sand as it was displaced by the thrusters and the ships legs. Heaving out the breath that I had been holding as a relieved sigh, I turned to smile impishly at Chi-chi. "See? That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

I didn't expect the swift slap upside my head or how Chi-chi was no hovering over me with a stormy expression on her face. If looks could kill I would have been dead fifteen seconds ago. "Ow! What was that for?" She went to slap me again, my forearm catching this one as I raised it to protect my face. "That was for leaving me alone out here and letting me think that we were going to die! This is for thinking it was funny that I was scared!" She went to slap me for a third time and though I caught her wrist, her left hand finished what her right had started. "And this is for acting like you actually knew how to land this thing!"

"Well, we survived didn't we? And now we know what to expect on Namek, so stop hitting me! I have as much experience with ships as you do and I think I did a pretty good job all things considered, thank you very much!" I unbuckled myself and stood up with a huff, swatting her away from me as I went to go get ready for the day. Someone was bound to have seen our ship land and I wasn't sure if we would be ignored or not, so it was best not to be here just in case.

I felt more than heard Chi-chi follow me before going into her room, the sound of the shower being started reaching my ears as I pulled out some clean clothes. I really did hate the fashion sense here in outer space. I mean, did everything have to be spandex? Taking a quick shower, I quickly pulled on the form fitting white pants and sleeveless shirt before combing out my darkened blue hair and pulling on a pair of boots. Leaving my room, I almost walked right into Chi-chi as she stood outside my door. Silently she held out a long hooded cloak to me, and I was glad to see that she had calmed down a bit. We would need our wits if we were going to get through this day unscathed. Fastening the cloak around my neck and pulling up the white hood, I grabbed up the small box of capsules at the ready before lowering the exit ramp.

Immediately we were bombarded with a blisteringly hot wind, sand particles floating into our eyes as we walked down the ramp. And unfortunate as it was to have to wear the extra layers in this heat, I was glad to be wearing the cloak now as it blocked out most of the sand and kept the sun from burning our rather fair complexions to a crisp. Handing the capsule box to Chi and telling her to take the cycle out, I turned around and closed the ship back up before capsuling it. I heard the comforting sound of a capsule opening and looked back just in time to see the last of the smoke clear as the circular-shaped cycle sat shining in the bright sunlight. Giving the ship capsule to Chi-chi to put in the case, I stalked over to the bike and started it up, waiting for Chi-chi to climb on behind me before taking off in the direction of the city.

We had landed further away than I had first thought, seeing as it took us over an hour of racing the cycle as fast as it would go (404 mph) the whole way. We felt like were dying by the time the first buildings became visible in the horizon, and for a few painstaking minutes I feared that it was just a mirage. But Chi-chi saw it too and eventually the sounds and smells of civilization reached our senses. Not wanting the aliens to see the technology that my Dad and I had invented, I stopped the cycle just behind the last dune before the desert opened up into the teeming market-city. Both grumbling about hot and tired we were, Chi and I both took a canteen capsule and re-hydrated ourselves before beginning the trek over the dune and to the market.

Once inside the city, the smells that had been so enticing before lost their charm as we saw what was exuding the aromas. I swear I some of things that were supposed to be food actually move! I promised myself right then and there after I saw the fifth cauldron of suspicious lumpy, brown "soup" wiggle around that I wasn't going to eat anything unless I knew that it had been made by my Mom. And by the look on Chi-chi's face, I think that she had decided to take similar actions.

Turning toward Chi, I made sure to keep my voice down as I spoke in French, "Avez-vous votre dispositif antiparasite d'énergie?" ("Do you have your energy suppressor?") My Mom's mother had been French and so Mom had taught us all how to speak French even before Frieza had invaded Earth, after which it became our secret language seeing as many now understood what had once been English. I didn't know who or where the aliens around us had been, but it was better safe than sorry than to go around speaking in a common language. Nodding, Chi-chi held up her wrist where there dangled what seemed like a charm bracelet—which is what it was, but this one was special. Over the years, we had discovered that some of these aliens could do what Master Roshi, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu could do; the same thing that he scouters did: sensed another living being's life force. Well, Dad and I had invented something that would suppress our energy and make us invisible to all of them.

Looking at all of the colors around us, it seemed odd to me that they didn't use more light colors like yellow and white to reflect the sun's heat away from them. Sure there was some yellows and whites, oranges and greens, reds and blues, but a lot of the color schemes seemed to consist of the colors brown, black and gray. "Okay, let's split up so we're not so conspicuous." Looking down at my watch and noting the time aloud, I continued speaking in French, "Meet me back here in an hour."

Nodding in affirmative, she turned right and melded into the crowds as I continued straight forward. It all was rather intriguing, watching the different things that the street merchants were selling and trading, seeing the street performers dance and juggle among other things, the different kinds of aliens all mingling together as one solid crowd. I hadn't been outside of Frieza's ship since I was ten years old, Zarbon's reasoning being that Lord Frieza wouldn't let us leave the ship because we weak humans were incapable of defending ourselves. Yeah, there were a lot of things out in space that were stronger, faster, scarier (you get the point) than us, but right at this moment... It was exhilarating finally being free in the wide open. Well actually, I spent most of my time trying to push my way through the seemingly impenetrable wall of people. Many of them were taller than I was, most of them thicker as well. I knew that if they had a mind to do it, they could crush me like a grape. Shuddering at the "kersplat" image that popped into my head, you can only imagine what a relief it was when I finally emerged from the sweltering mob and happened upon the thing that I didn't know I was looking for.

I don't know what it was about it, but something just drew me forward toward the broad-bladed sword sheathed in a red leather-like scabbard with a blue strap to wear it across your back, a large silver pommel resting atop the black hilt. I had snatched a few knives and had even stumbled across a couple of guns, but this was what I really wanted now that I had seen it. Having the capsule at the ready, I stepped forward reaching out toward the blade, my fingers only inches from the sword before it was quickly whipped out of my grasp.

Letting out a surprised and outraged gasp, I turned my attention to the guy who had just stolen the sword that I was just about to take. I was taken aback by what I saw though. Surrounded by all of the other different species of aliens around us, he was only about medium height, and though heavily muscled by human standards, he was actually quite slim compared to some of the other humanoids around him—but that's not what caught me by surprise. At first all I had seen was a mess of spikey, coarse-looking black hair that went every which way around the sides of his head, and _that _was what made me take a closer look at him. Particularly at his waist. And there it was—just as I had feared—a rope of brown fur wrapped securely around his waist, marking it as the tail of a Saiyin. Which also meant that he was one.

Perhaps a smart person would have just let him have the sword and went on their way to find another one—but I am not just a "smart" person, I am a genius and stubborn to boot. I had seen that sword first! It wasn't fair that he had gotten to it before I did just because he had super-speed. And being the genius that I am, I also noticed that he didn't have that mean, scowling look about him that all of the Saiyins that I had ever seen did—which meant that just maybe he could be talked out of the sword.

"Hey you!" He looked up from examining the blade in surprise as I marched up to him, a thunderous scowl on my face as I glared up at the giant in front of me. I swallowed back a gulp of fear once I got close enough to him to see just how big he actually was. He made even Yamcha look small, which meant I must have looked like a tiny porcelain doll compared to him.

"Yeah?" He looked genuinely confused as he stared down at me with those shiny black eyes of his. Staring up at him, I almost felt sorry for what I was about to do, but he was a Saiyin and could take care of himself! I actually needed that sword! So pointing at it without breaking my glaring eye contact with him, I angrily exclaimed, "That's my sword!"

He looked between me and the sword before reaching back to scratch the back of his head with a nervous chuckle. Yep, he definitely wasn't like most of his kind. "Really? Well, I'm sorry! We just saw this hanging there and I guess it looked pretty or something because Vegeta told me to go get it... But if it's really yours, then here you can't have it back! Sorry for taking it from you!"

I just stared at him as the guy continued to ramble, not really paying attention to what he was saying as he handed me the sword. He really wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed was he (pun intended)? I was broken out of my thoughts debating whether or not it was because I was a really great actress, or was it just because he was rather stupid that I was getting this sword when a loud rumble filled the air around us. At first I didn't know what it was—at least not until the Saiyin reached down and patted his belly, that same nervous chuckled escaping his impish lips as he said, "Oops, I guess I'm hungry again."

Feeling sorry that I had duped the guy, it was the least I could do as I gestured behind me and told him, "You know, I saw a bunch of food stands back in that direction." His eyes lit up like a puppy's or a kid's on Christmas as his whole body tensed in excitement, his head snapping up in the direction I had pointed as if he could actually differentiate the food from all the smells that engulfed us. "Really? Oh yeah, you're right! It smells delicious! Thanks!" As he scampered on past me and bowled right through the crowd, I couldn't help but to think, _What is he? Part bloodhound or something?_

With a victorious grin, I capsuled the sword and started making my way back to where I was supposed to meet Chi-chi. Our hour had to be almost up by now and I had everything that I needed too. I had only pushed past a few aliens when suddenly there was a heavy hand gripping my shoulder, spinning me around to see the face of an enraged, blubbery merchant. "Where do you think you're going, you little bitch?" I froze in surprise, my eyes going wide as I swallowed the aching lump that had risen in my throat. I fought against crying out as he squeezed my shoulder even harder, his fingers feeling as if they were about to puncture right through my shoulder—muscles, bones and all. "You need to pay for that sword!"

"But I don't have a sword! Look!" I gestured down at myself, nothing visible but my cloak and clothes, but definitely not a big, bulky sword. He let out a disgusted snort, as if he though that _I _was unattractive or something! Me! But he didn't seem to want to budge away from me as he glared down at me, those topaz eyes of his gleaming down maliciously from his gray face. "No, I know you have it! Now where did you hide it, whore?"

"Whore?" I was just about to start screaming in his face, giving everything I had verbally and physically when suddenly he squeezed harder, making me knees want to give out from under me. I couldn't keep in the whimper that escaped my lips as I felt myself being crushed. I had learned long ago not to cry out—that it only made them like to hurt you more because they rejoiced in the sound and knowing that they were causing you agony. But this had caught me by surprise. Maybe this was karma catching up to me for stealing those knives and guns, and then tricking that Saiyin out of his sword and stealing that too. But couldn't karma cut a girl a break? I was trying to save the universe, you know!

"Are you speaking of the broad sword with the red scabbard that was hanging on the corner booth?" Both the asshole merchant and I jumped a little as a rough, authoritative lashed out at us. Turning, my breath caught in my throat as I met the cold, black gaze of yet another Saiyin. I looked around for the other one that I had spoken to before, but saw only the one plus a giant bald one. I almost didn't see the second one because Saiyins usually had thick, spikey brown or black hair like the flame-shaped hair that defied gravity adorning the shorter one's head. The tall one was just bald, and it was only because of his tail that I could tell what he was. But why did the short one look so familiar? Or more importantly, was I about to die at the hands of a Saiyin instead of that ugly merchant?

"Yeah, that's the one, Saiyin." The tall bald seemed growl as the shorter one merely rolled his eyes before reaching into his breastplate, grumbling as he pulled out a money bag. Well, not really grumbling seeing as we heard every word he spoke. "Stupid buffoon probably forgot to pay in his rush to go stuff his face some more! Idiot!"

I couldn't believe it when the merchant let go of me, pushing me aside none too gently in his rush to get to this Saiyin's coins. I didn't stick around to see what else was going to happen (like that Saiyin that I tricked coming back and telling them that he gave the sword to me). Pulling my hood back over my blue hair and pale skin, I turned and ran, losing myself in the sea of aliens as I made for Chi-chi was probably waiting for me. I knew that I just had to get far enough away from them to get out of sight—that they would never be able to find me using the scouters over their eyes. I couldn't help but smile and thank the universe as I finally spotted Chi-chi, the hood of her white cloak pulled down to show off her shiny black bun. _Maybe the universe is on our side, _I thought as we ran out of the city and over the dune, uncapsuling the cycle again in order to get far enough away from civilization to launch off planet. Thinking back to the familiar looking Saiyin that had probably just saved my life (though I could have eventually have talked my way out of it if given enough time), I thought, _And thanks Spike! I owe you one!_


	5. It's All So Green

**Author's Note: **

**Okay guys, we're doing pretty good—240 views in just a week (Hey, I'm proud. That's the most views any of my work has ever gotten! Ever.). But you're not reviewing! How am I supposed to know what I need to work on if you don't tell me? Do I need more details? Less? Is the dialogue okay? And those are just a few of the plethora of questions that need answering! So please review. Also, I want to know what you guys want to happen. If I like what you suggest... then maybe you might find it in the story! Yes? No?**

**Anyhoo, here's chapter five (Or would it be called 'Chapter Four' since my first post was a prologue?)! Oh, and no, I do_ not _own Dragonball Z or any of it's counterparts.**

***It's All So... Green.***

We watched in an excited kind of awe as that green speck grew larger, and even more beautiful, as what could have once been mistaken for a star transformed into a planet right before our very eyes. But excitement, in my opinion, is a very versatile emotion. On the one hand, it can be that sensation of restlessness that comes with seeing the end of a ten day long imprisonment, an end of being locked in the same small space with only one other person and with basically nothing to do. And then on the other hand, it could be that overwhelming giddiness that is actually just masking how terrified you really are about invading an alien world... that you know absolutely nothing about. I mean, what if Namekians are bloodthirsty savages that are going to be picking us out of their teeth at the end of this? Or what if the planet has a hundred times more gravity than we're used to? One step outside of the ship and we'd be pancakes! Or what if they are nice but don't understand us and then Frieza arrives before we can find the dragonballs and we're all destroyed? That would mean the end of the universe! Or at least it's freedom (and most of it's inhabitants).

Terrified by my own doubts and musings, I turned to Chi-chi, hopeful for one of her silver-lining pep talks. But what I found instead surprised me. Instead of looking terrified and green with the full intent of barfing at any moment like I'm sure I did, she looked determined. Staring at my best friend, I was reminded of the expressions—of the auras—of the heroes in the books that my Mom used to read to me back on Earth. It actually made me feel better—and a little ashamed of myself. Here I was, a grown woman and a genius on top of that, cowering like a child afraid of monsters that probably didn't even exist! _And if they did, why should I be afraid?_ I had looked evil incarnate right in his red eyes and had had more than one conversation with him. _Yeah! If I can face Frieza, then I can face anything!_

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Chi-chi's voice broke me out of my mental pep rally and brought me back to the present with an arched dark brow. Blinking, the victorious smile that I had fell from my face as I turned back to face the screen. "No reason."

Through my peripheral vision I watched as at first she appeared unconvinced and then furious, her face turning an alarming shade of red as she glared at me. "You're not thinking about Yamcha while staring at me again, are you? Because if you are... just gross! You can just leave right now!" For a second I almost felt contrite. It was true—sometimes I would catch sight of Chi-chi's long, soft black hair and it would remind me of Yamcha's silky locks. Which always led to thoughts about running my fingers through his hair again... and that led to _other _thoughts. What can I say? Spending two and a half weeks with nothing to do but sit, eat, train and think... Well, the brain covered a lot of subjects in that amount of time. Some more than others—out of nostalgia and boredom, of course. I'm not a pervert! It's just that it's been like a month since... you know.

And then that last sentence clicked in.

"What?" If the glass on the windows of the ship wasn't made for the extreme pressures of space, I was sure that it would have spider-webbed right then and there. Seething, I turned a glare on the girl sitting beside me. "I was not thinking about Yamcha! And don't you dare order me to leave, Chi-chi Ushidoshi! I am the captain of this ship! And if you want to survive to see another day, I'm landing this baby!"

Her eyes widened a little at my quick change of expression and harsh tone. But only for a split nanosecond before her own eyes flared with anger. "'Cause you did such a great job last time!"

"Well, it's not like your sitting there screaming did us any good either! And I am a great pilot!"

"The ship's on autopilot! You don't even drive it!" My head jerked back as if she had slapped me, and if I didn't have to land the ship on Namek within the next couple of minutes, I would have smacked her. Instead I did the next best thing to assuage my wounded ego. I screamed the meanest thing I could come up with at the moment in her face—which in my opinion, was seriously lacking my usual flare. "It's not like you do anything useful!"

"I don't do anything useful? Then fine! You can cook your own meals from now on!" With that said and so much more in her sparking dark eyes, Chi-chi launched herself up out of the co-pilot's chair and stomped off into her own room. Blinking away the tears of frustration from my eyes, I just stared at the recently vacated seat as my anger sudden deflated, leaving me feeling empty. _Great. Now you've done it, Bulma._ Swallowing past the hollow lump that formed in my throat at the absence of somebody in the chair beside me, I turned back to the planet in front of me as the ship's computerized voice came over the intercoms. "Destination Namek reached. Fasten seat belts. Entering the planet's gravitational pull. Autopilot off. Prepare for landing."

Pushing Chi-chi and everything else but the task at hand out of my mind, I fastened my straps in as the ship began to tremble. "Now entering Namekian atmosphere." _Ugh! I'm going to have to change that stupid computer-voice. It reminds me way too much of Frieza, which is seriously creeping me out!_ Taking a deep breath and wiping my sweaty palms off on my pants legs, I took hold of the controls just as we passed into the nearly invisible barrier. It was more like a green haze suddenly engulfed the ship; a bright contrast almost blinding compared to the darkness of space.

The ground was approaching fast and I wondered if this was some kind of aquatic planet as the blue and very few specks of green grew nearer. Pulling hard on the joystick I steered the ship toward one of the few islands that I could see amidst all of blue ocean. We were just a few hundred feet from the ground, and the exhaustion from trying to slow the ship down so we wouldn't crash land again had my muscles burning, when suddenly I saw the reflection of the two suns overhead in the green that I was aiming to land in. Realizing that the planet seemed to be opposite of Earth in it's color scheme, I steered away from the green water and toward what I hoped was blue grass at the last possible moment. Gritting my teeth both to stop their chattering from the shaking of the ship, and to keep from crying out in both pain and frustration, I threw what weight I could into the joystick to keep it in place as the blue zoomed under us, drawing closer and closer.

If there had been an audience watching our landing, I'm sure that we would have looked like a stone being skipped across water as our white ship touched down once, twice, three times before stopping near the base of a tall, column-like mountain or plateau or whatever you want to call it.

Loosening my white-knuckled grip on the joystick was harder than I thought it would be, but I did it and then shut off the ignition. Falling back into my chair with a heavy, relieved sigh, I wiped away some of the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead and cheeks. My cheeks felt warm and were probably red as I tried to slow my breathing, shocked my how much I had actually doubted myself. And then I thought about. If it wasn't for this stupid planet tricking me, I would have made a fine landing! How was I supposed to know that the grass was blue and the water was apparently green?

Just then I heard the hiss of a door open and I knew that Chi-chi was coming. I hoped that she wasn't going to start nagging or whatever because I _really_ wasn't in the mood for it! Turning, I gave her a warning glare with earned me an arched eyebrow. If it wasn't for the fact that my hands were shaking and my breathing was still erratic, I would have laughed at her ghostly white face and eyes the size of baseballs. Judging by the heavy heaves of her chest and the breathy way that she spoke, I guess my seriously awesome driving skills had taken her breath away too. "Um... what was that?"

Unbuckling myself and hoisting myself up on jellied legs, I grabbed the back of my chair to keep me steady on my feet. Looking back up at her I offered a tired smirk. "The universe has a sick sense of humor."

Sending me a confused look, she leaned back against the wall and asked, "What does that mean?" I shot her a disbelieving look. How could she not see the green sky and blue grass? Turning to face the window, I guess the joke was on me as I came face to face with a wall of beige rock. _Oops. I guess that was more of a close call than I thought._ Turning back to Chi-chi with an impish smile, I shrugged my shoulders, thinking that I might as well just let her see for herself when we left the ship. "Nothing. Just go get our stuff ready while I run the scans. I don't know how long it's going to take to find these dragonballs, and I definitely don't want any surprise visits from Frieza. So let's try to get this over with asap."

Nodding, she pushed herself up off of the wall and left me to drag myself over to the computer. Typing in a few codes that creepy voice that I really did need to change came over the speakers again. "Gravitational force: 10.29 m/s². Oxygen levels normal. Planet habitable." I let out the breath that I didn't even realize that I was holding as the computer read out the results of it's scans. I guess I was worried about us becoming pancakes for nothing! Sure the gravity was a little stronger than that of Earth's, but it wasn't anything that we couldn't handle.

"I take that it's safe to leave the ship?" I nodded as I studied the figures on the screen, making sure that everything was alright after that landing. The last thing we needed was a broken down ship, and I hadn't seen a single metropolis as we landed, which meant that it was probable that we wouldn't find anything to fix a broken ship with. Satisfied, I turned to see that Chi-chi was armed and ready for adventure, a backpack at her feet presumably containing some on-hand food, water and capsules. How was she that energized? "I think I'm going to take a shower before we head out."

"Really?" I nodded once again at her exasperated cry. "But... come on! I haven't been on a real planet in almost decade!" I smiled at her theatrics, amusedly watching as she built herself up into a huge hissy fit. Too bad I had to put an end to what was surely going to be a glorious show (not!). "You were just on a planet a little over a week ago."

"Yeah, but I meant a real planet that I can actually enjoy! You know, stop to smell the roses or some shit like that!" I laughed at her 'real' planet comment as I walked passed her towards the bathroom. Sure, Xylen had totally sucked (except for my exemplary bargaining skills and that Saiyin guy coming to the rescue—his efforts were appreciated, though not actually needed), but it was still an actual planet. Unlike the only other planet that we had actually been on in the past decade—Frieza's mechanical home-base. It might as well have been a planet-sized spaceship, which would have been cool had it not been his.

"Xylen was a real planet, Chi. And this one will still be here in twenty minutes." I felt my muscles tense though I didn't stop walking as Chi-chi mumbled something under her breath that sounded a lot like: "At least we hope it will." Grabbing a towel and a clean outfit, I walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on. I kept trying not to think about it, but it's presence was always there in the back of our minds. It was like it was actually palpable in the air around us: Frieza was coming. I had to keep reminding myself and Chi-chi that this ship was a lot faster than his. He wouldn't arrive for close to another two months! We had plenty of time to grab the dragonballs and get the hell out of dodge. I hoped.

Pulling the white spandex into a more comfortable position on my thigh, I exited the bathroom and made my way to where Chi-chi was sitting against the wall beside the exit ramp. _And she says I have no patience._ I didn't even spare her a glance as I swooped up the bag and slung it over my shoulders, punching in the code to open the ramp and barely waiting for it descend before striding down it. The rush of hot, humid air that hit me as I ambled down the ramp and a little ways into the knee-high blue grass did not bode well with me. Why couldn't these planets have a nice, normal temperature like on Earth or in the ship? Planet Frieza had been just that—freezing! Planet Xylen had been a freaking desert! And now Namek was hot as Hell too (well, close enough)! I can't wait for this to all be over so we can find a nice New Earth to settle down on and have a normal life.

Chi-chi stepped down beside me, looking around with her mouth agape and eyes wide as I capsuled the ship. I didn't say anything, letting her take it all in as I started walking back in the direction of the green lake of what I assumed was water. I mean, people build their homes and villages and stuff beside water supplies, right? So it was the most logical direction to go on this foreign world.

Neither of us said anything as we continued to trudge along for hours under the double suns. We were both glad that Mom thought to pack sun-screen into our supplies. But the heat was really starting to get to us. If I wasn't so miserable I would have laughed at Chi-chi's disgruntled face and how she was alternating from cursing the planet to complaining about no air-conditioning to praying for a nice, cool wind to blow. Actually, that last part sounded pretty good and I soon found myself wishing for a breeze to come. I didn't know how much more of this we could take and we were supposed to be hunting down the dragonballs! Wait a second... "Chi-chi?"

"Yeah?"

"I just realized something."

"If you tell me we're going in the wrong direction, Bulma, I just might have to kill you."

I was almost too tired to be indignant at her lack of faith in my sense of direction. Almost. "Oh, please! You're way too tired to even attempt it. And no, we're going in the right direction of what I think was water."

"Then what is it?" I could tell by her tone that she was reaching her breaking point. Sure, we had trained over the years and during our trip... But no amount of martial arts training in an air-conditioned room prepares you for a long hike in a hot, humid climate. And it didn't make up for a lack of knowledge about certain things either. "Um... do you happen to know what a dragonball actually looks like?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and I had to circle back around to stand with her as she stared at me, alarmed. I fought down the panic that was swelling in my chest as I saw that she had no idea what we were even searching this planet for either. But trying to keep calm in the situation, I grasped onto the only hope I could. "Okay. It's okay. I mean, they're called 'dragonballs,' right? And they're magical! So, all we have to do is find seven magical-looking balls! Or maybe the natives are friendly and speak the common language and will help us find them!" Chi-chi just stared at me as I nodded enthusiastically and babbled on like an idiot. I could tell from her expression that she didn't buy it, but was hopeful.

We just stood there for a while, resting as we baked under the suns, lost in our own thoughts when Chi-chi's voice suddenly interrupted the quiet. "Bulma, I'm tired of walking. Let's just use the bike again and then maybe we can go for a swim or something." I was about to agree with her, a nice, cool swim sounding really good right about then, when suddenly I face-palmed. I couldn't believe it! What was wrong with me? I was a genius, and yet I had been suffering complete misery for the last two-and-a-half hours all because I didn't remember about the capsules! Or more importantly—what was in them! Chi-chi jumped when I let out an unladylike scream as I ripped the backpack from my shoulders, unzipped it and then dug in my hands. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" I muttered more to myself than anyone as I took out the capsule box, opened it and then found the right one. Maybe I should have been born a blonde... or maybe I just hung out with my Mom too often. Or maybe I was going insane from the lack of civilization! God, I hoped that I was just occasionally ditzy, not actually insane! Though Dad did always say that there was a fine line between madness and brilliance.

With the bike it only took us a couple of minutes to reach the small green lake that I had seen before. We climbed off the cycle and re-capsuled it before going over to the lake's edge. I had to stop Chi-chi from just diving into it. This was an alien planet and first thing was first—make sure that this wasn't some sort of lake of acid or something. Walking around, I eventually found a stick over in some higher weeds and quickly made my way back to the lake's edge. The spandex was sticking to me even more uncomfortably than usual because of all of the heat and sweat, and I was really hoping that this was water. I was beginning to feel like a turkey in the oven on Christmas Eve. Looking over, I could tell Chi-chi was too. Poor girl. That black hair of hers was probably making it even worse.

Poking the stick into the water, I drew it out and watched to see if it was going to be eaten away or anything. But when nothing happened, I had to test out all possible scenarios. Taking a deep breath, I brought the tip of the stick closer to me and then as fast as I could, I tapped the end of the wet stick with two of my fingers. I bit my lip and squinched my eyes shut as I waited for my fingers to start burning. But all I felt was a coolness that quickly evaporated in the hot air. Seeing that it was indeed just water, my best friend let out a gleeful shout before stepping back and then getting a running start before she jumped into the water. Laughing, I followed suit and soon we were both in an all out water war.

A little while later, things had calmed down and we were just floating on our backs, staring up at the green sky and yellowish clouds above us. Thinking back to our conversation on the ship earlier, I smiled and said, "You know, Chi-chi, I saw some purple flowers a few miles back... They're not roses, but you could always go and smell them if you want to." She didn't say anything but I could practically hear her rolling her eyes at me. We didn't say anything more for a few minutes, but then I stood up and looked down at her seriously. Looking up at me curious and maybe a little confused, Chi-chi stood up in front of me. "What is it?"

"So what do you think of Namek, Chi?" I was genuinely curious. I was thinking that this planet wasn't so bad now that I wasn't sweltering in the humid heat—and that maybe, if the natives were nice and Frieza didn't destroy this planet after he found out that the dragonballs were gone... Maybe after he was gone and we had saved Mom, Dad, Yamcha and the others, Namek could be our new home. It was kind of like Earth. Sorta. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad place to begin again.

She glanced away from me, her dark eyes roaming the sky and landscape behind me with wonder. "I don't know, I guess it's kinda pretty. The sky, the water—it's all so... green." I was about to laugh and say something smart-ass when a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Turning my head, I felt my eyes widened as I caught sight of a figure in a long white cape standing atop one of the shorter nearby plateaus. My heartbeat accelerating exponentially as my mouth went suddenly dry, I had to like my lips with a sand-papery like tongue several times before I said, "Yeah, that's not the only thing."


	6. Our Own Personal Welcoming Committee

**Author's Note:**

**I'm alive! I know it's been awhile and you guys don't really want to hear about how my mom let our internet go this summer, or how I just started college, or how heavy my schedule was. But now that my mini-semester is over, maybe I can start updating more regularly! Hopefully...**

**I just wanted you guys to know that I haven't given up on writing this sucker. Far from it. I mean, what kind of person would I be if I just left things without Bulma and Chi-chi meeting Vegeta and Goku? Officially.**

**Anyway, just like I promised Smalsa and Laarc! I know it's short compared to my other chapters, but hey, at least I'm writing it again!**

* * *

Chapter Five

Our Own Personal Welcoming Committee

Shooting me a confused glance, she turned. I heard a gasp and I could could imagine the look of horror on her face as she caught sight of the tall green alien wearing a long white cape and turban not a hundred yards away from us, its hand raised as it began to glow with a familiar kind of light. But I didn't need to imagine what she was feeling or seeing—because I felt and saw the same exact thing. A sense of panic made my heart flutter as if it had wings inside my chest. After spending a decade on Frieza's ship, we were very familiar with ki blasts. Heck, even Master Roshi, Yamcha and the boys could do it.

Letting out a yelp that was a cross between fear and surprise, I was pulled down into the water just as the energy blast left the alien's hand. Chi-chi had dragged me out and deeper into the lake, but I knew that we wouldn't be fast enough to escape the explosion of ki. But that didn't mean that I was going down without at least trying. Back on Earth, I had always had an affinity for water. According to my mom I had been able to swim before I could walk or talk... so why not give it a try now. Even if it had been years since I had been in anything larger than a shower.

All of those thoughts had flown through my head in less than a second before I grabbed hold of Chi-chi's wrist and starting kicking out against the water. It was like I was floating up in the clouds, just flying around with no resistance as my free arm and legs sliced through the water. I felt Chi-chi thrashing beside me, trying to help I presumed—but her struggles seemed to get more sluggish the farther and deeper we got into the lake. The water was no longer the green of grass but a deep green, like the forest at twilight. The logical side of the brain told me that everything should be black and that my lungs should be burning, the pressure of the water crushing us. But it wasn't. Or at least, I was unaffected by it. Though at the moment I didn't really pay attention to that little piece of logic and mystery floating through my head. Instead, I was too busy being overwhelmed with panic as I watched a huge yellow glow rush towards us. It seemed to illuminate everything around us, including Chi-chi's face.

She was losing consciousness and would probably die if I didn't do something. Time seemed to slow down as I looked up toward the surface (a faint the light being the only indication that I was looking in the right direction), then the blast coming straight toward us, and then finally my gaze settled on my best friend's pale face. She was looking right at the blast and yet she didn't look afraid. She just looked tired for some reason. I was just beginning to wonder why when it hit me. She was dying! My best friend, my soul-twin was drowning!

I reacted without even thinking as I pushed myself closer to her and grabbed her face between my hands. I crushed my lips to hers, her mouth opening in surprise and giving me the chance to push the air that was somehow still in my lungs into hers. I pulled back and she gave me a grateful nod, her dark eyes shining with their usual vibrancy before we both turned back toward our impending doom. Acting on instinct yet again, I grabbed Chi-chi's wrist and started tugging her toward the surface. The only thoughts running through my mind being that we needed to escape the blast and get to the surface before we drowned.

We were still a good thirty feet from the surface when suddenly the water got slightly warmer and what felt like a wall slammed us from behind. We were thrown up out of the lake within two seconds, a wall of water and steam surrounding us before gravity took hold. The fall was fast and scary as hell as we plummeted back to the ground with a jarring thud. I didn't know how we got from the middle of the lake back to the shore, but I decided right then and there that I really didn't like heights. Maybe I should have taken Yamcha up on his offer to teach me how to fly.

Chi-chi was choking up water and gasping for air when my eyes snapped open. It was an action that I immediately regretted as I was blinded by the two suns hovering over my face. Quickly shutting my eyes and turning over onto my stomach, I hid myself in the crook of my arm as I tried to take in my surroundings with my other four—okay, let's just make that three (there was no way I was putting anything in my mouth) senses. I could still hear Chi coughing and taking in ragged breaths, and there was a breeze that I could both feel and hear as something snapped in it, reminding me of the clothing line my mom used to have on Earth. That sound gave me a bad feeling as well as the feeling that someone was watching me as I took in the disturbing smell of wet sand and burnt... something. A thought crossed my mind, the horror of it making me open my eyes in outrage. I didn't know how I got up to my feet but suddenly I was there, glaring at that green guy that tried to blow us up. He was closer than before, his muscled forearms crossed over his chest as he glared down at us with glinting black eyes. Something about his disgusted, petulant expression just set me off even more as my eyes narrowed into one of my infamous death glares. Fuming I screamed at him (or at least I think it was a him), "What is your problem? You almost killed us!" I ran a frustrated hand through my blue locks, feeling for burned strands that I really hoped weren't present. "You better not have singed my hair!"

"Or what?" His rough voice sounded both bored and angry at the same time, making Chi-chi flinch a little as it snapped towards them in her peripheral vision. But what I didn't like was the way the green dude was glaring down his nose at me—I absolutely hated it when people looked down there noses at me or my friends. But his question caught me off guard... because I didn't have an 'or what.' Sputtering as I came up with something on the fly, I shouted, "Or I-I'll... Or we'll just leave you to Frieza!" By the time that I had said that, Chi was on her feet and standing right beside me looking ready for a fight as she added, "Yeah! So tell us where the dragonballs are!"

The Namek seemed to be getting angrier and angrier as we shouted at him, placing two of his fingers to his forehead as he snarled down at us. "I would rather die than let someone by the likes of Frieza or his minions use the dragonballs! But it seems that today I won't have to." I had a really bad feeling as he said this, and that feeling got even worse when he barked out a maniacal laugh that would give Frieza a run for his money. "How weak does he think we are? Sending two insects to take on an entire planet! Perhaps he'll learn that the Saiyins aren't the only ones to fear in the universe." It seemed that he meant the last part more for himself than us, though we heard it just as clearly as we heard his yells as the breeze carried it to us. I didn't get much of a chance to ponder what he meant when suddenly I was knocked to the side once again, Chi-chi shouting in my ear, "Bulma, move!"

We hit the ground just as his deep voice seemed to echo in the air around us, "Special beam cannon!" Our vision was suddenly blinded by a bright yellow beam of light with another swirling around the laser heading straight for us. I bit back a scream and I knew that Chi-chi was too as we watched the end of our lives speeding straight for us. We had learned long ago that these aliens with their special powers enjoyed hearing the pain and fear that they wrought. Chi-chi and I had long ago made a pact to never give them the satisfaction, and never had we. I guess old habits die hard.

A large shadow jumped in the way of the blast just before it hit us, the heat having already beginning to sear our skin as the ki was knocked skyward with the slice of an arm. With the blinding blast gone, Chi and I was were left staring up in shock at a tall green man with pointed ears and antennas. The one that had just tried to kill us for the second time didn't look surprised but who could really tell with his alien features and grumpy expression. The man that had just saved us looked exactly like the one in the cape and turban, not even batting an eye as the mean one said in a deathly calm voice, "Move out of my way, Niall!"

"The Elder wishes to keep them alive, Piccolo. They are friends." His voice was softer and less rough than the other one that he had called Piccolo. The turbaned one just snorted disbelievingly, crossing his arms over his chest once again as he glared our way. "If they're our friends, then why did they just threaten me with Frieza?"

Oops. Maybe that wasn't my brightest move,

I thought as I stared up nervously at Niall's broad back. He seemed unperturbed as he said in a soothing voice wise beyond his years (Or what I thought his years were—he looked kinda young to me), "She is young and spoke in anger. They are here because they fight against Frieza." Piccolo "hmphed" as his scowl deepened, shooting me another disgusted look as he levitated up into the air. "I want to hear what the Elder has to say from his won lips."

"Very well, but at least try to show some respect for him, Piccolo. He is our father afterall." _That's it, _I thought, _they're twins! That's why they look exactly alike!_ Piccolo didn't say anything else as he suddenly took off flying very fast. I briefly wondered if he would surpass the speed of a flying bullet before dismissing it. Niall, I guessed his name was, sighed before starting to follow him, only to turn back around when we didn't follow. "I am sorry for how my brother acted, but I do need you to come with me." When we didn't move, he touched back down on the ground with his arms wide in the universal 'I-mean-no-harm' gesture. "I promise that we wish you no harm."

Jumping up to my feet, I saw that Chi-chi had leapt up and dropped into a similar defensive stance just a second before I had. After nearly being killed by this guy's evil twin, I was a little doubtful about the whole "we-come-in-peace" thing. And under different circumstances, I probably would have found it funny that these aliens were green with antennas. But not today. Today, it was just pissing me off.

Plus, it's not like we could fly. And there was no way in Hell that I was going to be hundreds of feet off of the ground at the mercy of an alien whose brother just tried to kill us. Twice! I was still sore from the last attempt on our lives! What I needed was a little break between adventures, thank you very much!

"We're not going anywhere, buddy!" I analyzed his every move, waiting for him to drop into an attack as his expression turned wary. But he didn't move or tense in the least. I didn't know whether it was because he honestly was peaceful or if he thought that our power levels were weak and that we weren't a threat. I'm guessing a combination of the both. After a few frozen seconds, he slowly touched back down on the ground with his arms wide in the universal 'I-mean-no-harm' gesture. "I promise that we wish you no harm."

"At this point, we really don't care," I hissed, never taking my eyes off of him. I had learned long ago that it was the one's with the nice faces that were the most dangerous. They led you into a false sense of security. Just look at my mom and dad. Or me and Chi-chi. At least you knew that Frieza and Dodoria were psychopathic and dangerous just by looking at them. Or even that other Namekian. Piccolo.

But this guy could be a wild card.

"The Elder knows of your purpose here. He'd like to help. Now come with me, please." He began levitating again, an honest expression (or at least I think it was) across his strange green features. Part of me wanted to believe him-wanted it to be that easy. But I couldn't read him; he was too alien. And the easy way usually ended up biting you in the ass later on.

"We can't fly." I turned toward where Chi-chi had her arms crossed defensively over her chest, giving off the impression that she was confident and angry. Relatively relaxed in this situation. But I could tell by the way she held herself that she was ready for it if he attacked. And even though she had just gave away one of our secrets in a innocent enough phrase, I could tell by her tone that she was telling the Namekian to get lost. It was strange to see her passing up a fight. But maybe she realized that this wasn't one that we could physically win. We weren't strong enough for that. We were only human, afterall.

He didn't seem to get the cue to leave.

"Oh? Really?" He seemed genuinely surprised and confused as he asked. With a gently furrowed brow (or a furrowed where-his-eyebrows-are-supposed-to-be), he looked back in the direction that his evil twin had flown off in. With a puzzled expression he said, "Well, it's too far to walk and the only way to the reach the top of the Elder's tower is by flight." He turned back to face us, "I guess I will have to carry you then." He stepped forward with his arms open as if he expected us to just run up to him and hang on as he took flight to only God knows where. "May I?"

We took a simultaneous step back into our defensive positions. No. Way. In. Hell!

We weren't given much choice as we were abruptly scooped up and in the air before we could even blink. We both made the mistake of looking down, our screams simultaneous as we caught sight of the plateaus that looked no bigger than toy trucks below us. If we had had something to hang on to, we probably would have clung to it for dear life. But instead, we just hung there from the backs of our shirts, the only thing holding us up being a thin layer of spandex.


End file.
